Swedish government to remove all Covid-19 restrictions Feb 9.
QUICK FACTS:
- The government of Sweden has decided to abolish all mandatory coronavirus restrictions, Swedish newspaper Expressen reports.
- The country’s restrictions will end Feb 9.
- Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced the move at a press conference, together with Minister for Health and Social Affairs Lena Hallengren and the Public Health Agency’s Karin Tegmark Wisell.
- Hallengren told the same news conference that authorities “will continue to be vigilant about how the pandemic will develop,” ABC News notes.
- Covid-19 will no longer be classified as a “socially dangerous disease” in Sweden.
WHAT SWEDEN’S PRIME MINISTER SAID:
- “We’re approaching the time for opening up Sweden again,” Prime Minister Andersson said.
- “The pandemic is not over, but it is on its way into an entirely new phase,” she added.
- International studies and data from Sweden show that the omicron variant causes milder disease and puts less pressure on the health care system than previous variants, Andersson pointed out.
- “The vaccination rate has been very high in Sweden in recent weeks. 80% of all Swedes over the age of 50 have now received three vaccine doses, and we can open up society again,” said Andersson.
BACKGROUND:
- The Swedish government’s easing of measures comes after the Danes removed all measures earlier this week.
- Norway also removed most of the measures this week, Norway Today notes.
